Mar 7, 2014 7:29 PM

As we all know fastpitch softball is a difficult game. It is often a roller coaster ride of emotions yielding successes and failures happening in rapid succession. Two steps forward and one step back is often the road to softball mastery.

However, the smarter your athlete and team can play the shorter will be their learning curve, and the more consistently they will play to their potential. I'm a big fan of stacking the odds in my players' favor!

Here are the 10 "must do" game strategies to insure softball success:

For Pitchers:

1. There are3 critical keys to increasing the odds of success each time a pitcher is in the circle: throw your best pitch (which is always strike one), always strive to get the first out of every inning (as hitters who lead off an inning reaching base score about 65% of the time), and pitch from ahead (work hard to get the count in your favor so the hitter must hit a "pitcher's pitch" instead of a "hitter's pitch").

For Hitters:

1. Have a plan each at bat. Know what your primary and secondary job is while on deck. Be prepared and laser focus in on doing your job well. Get excited about laying down a great sac bunt or moving the runner(s) over!

2. Guess location on the first pitch (in or away). The great Ted Williams hit this way. Give yourself an edge; particularly if you have noticed (by paying attention!) where the pitcher or coach likes to call the firstpitch. If you guess wrong, worst case, you are 0-1. If you guess right it could be a laser shot over the fence!